bargain hunting at ikea

We went to IKEA last night, to return the blue/brown/cream curtains. Yeah, I lost the vote, but we settled on some beige ones--ha ha--and I got some green ones for the dining room as well, and got all of those for the same cost as the blue/brown ones. So while I'm waiting in the return line, B calls and says he found one of the SAME curtains in the "As Is" section of the store for $5! By the time I get the return done ($129 back on my check card, thank you very much), he's also found a chandelier for $10! It was this one...interestingly enough called "Gospel":
It's really nothing like the one we love at Home Depot...


but it'll do for now. Turns out it's missing half it's little squiggly metal things, so it is really very simple. Guess that's why it was only $10, marked down from $60.

We also picked up a folding outdoor table made of acacia (?) for $20 because someone had put it together incorrectly and then apparently dropped it, chipping one corner. Oh, and turns out linens were on sale, so I got the single curtain for TWO BUCKS, and now I can make pillows for the bedroom. Woo hoo, compromise!

love the gas

Okay, so for some reason when they "renovated" our house, they removed all gas appliances (including the stove!) and replaced them with electric ones, except for the water heater. They even disconnected the gas logs, but left them in place. (Uh, thanks, guys.)

So our first gas bill (thanks, deregulation!) looks something like this:

From 05/02/07 to 05/28/07

AGLC May Base Charge...........$17.60
Catalyst Charge..........................5.95
Sales Tax....................................1.86
Gas Charges................................3.01
Turn On Fee.............................50.00
Total Charges...........................78.42

So we used a total of 3.075 therms ($3.01) but getting those 3.075 therms to our house cost us another $75! (Thanks again, deregulation!)

My dad has offered to come help put in a 220 line so we can get a new electric water heater, since over the course of a year, the gas bill would basically pay for a new one. Not sure how much it will raise our electric bill, but I can't imagine that it would be $30 a month more. Could it? I saw where Georgia Power is offering a big rebate if you buy one of those expensive energy efficient ones (guessing they cost close to $1000) that are all covered in foam and stuff, but unfortunately, we have city of E.P. power--which I believe is provided to them by Georgia Power, but minus the rebates.

yay! now we have room for food!

We picked up this china cabinet on Craigslist. It was being sold for $75 but since we weren't sure about it, they let us have it for $50 just so they wouldn't have to move it. We hoped it would go in the dining room, but it didn't really fit, plus it leaned (the floors are more uneven in the DR) to the front, and it didn't match! Big disappointment. But then we moved it into the kitchen, and voila!--it looks as if it were built to match our cabinets. We're using it for our everyday dishes now, and using the available cabinet space for food. This kitchen is a lot smaller than the condo's, so every little bit helps.

The china cabinet is made out of teak and appears to be from Japan (sticker on the back). Brandon claims it smells like a certain fragrant illegal substance and patchouli. We sprayed it with odor remover and Lysol and it's better now. (No offense, ladies, if you happen to come across the blog! The china cabinet is great! But it did have fragrance about it...) Gecko has shown quite a bit of interest in it, even so...

evil

Having installed one of these before, I thought this time would be a breeze. Was I ever wrong! I was begging the drill to go into drywall and plaster each time, and not another wall stud. Maybe it wasn't even a stud, maybe it was just the plaster lathe, but it was hard as a rock and the drill just spun and got hot, rather than drilling into the wood.

After many frustrating hours, this is the final result:

let's vote!

Who likes these curtains besides me? Brandon says they are too busy. They do remind me of my parents' house in the 70s for some reason, but I like them.

fine craftsmanship

Perhaps the Craftsman era was devoted to quality work, but the guys who did the renovations on our house were decidedly not devoted to much of anything except payday and quitting time.

Here is a view of our hallway. The damage you see is not due to poor craftsmanship, but is where Tim and the guys pulled the molding off in order to work on the floors.

But let's take a closer look at things... Is that...a...Coke can...in the wall?

Yes, it is. Behind the drywall and the molding, someone permanently installed a Coke can in our home. Appropriate, somehow, but annoying nonetheless. At least it's empty!

Another example of quality work. (The paint job is mine, so no comment on that! It's a work in progress.) But, notice that the light switch appears to be OFF. But the light appears to be ON. Yep, it's installed upside down. Good work, guys!

mr. handyman

The house has been really frustrating. Usually we're not smiling if we're holding tools!